• Former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier leaves the civil court house with his wife in Port-au-Prince on January 18, 2011.

    © 2011 Reuters
    Haiti: Duvalier Ruling Disappoints Justice
    A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes.
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Haiti

  • Haiti: Duvalier Ruling Disappoints Justice
    Jan 31, 2012
    A Haitian judge’s decision to dismiss the case against former president-for-life Jean-Claude Duvalier for grave human rights violations ignores Haiti’s international obligation to prosecute such crimes.
  • A chance for Congress to help Haitian women
    Jan 24, 2012
    Haiti desperately needs legal reform on gender-based violence. Haitian law prohibits domestic violence against minors but does not classify domestic violence against adults as a distinct crime. The penal code includes penalties for rape but does not address marital rape. Women and girls cannot seek protection orders from judicial officers.
  • Hope for Haiti's Women
    Jan 17, 2012
    Women's rights is one example of huge problems and work ahead, and yet it also shows why no one should give up on Haiti. Groundbreaking work is being done to promote the rights of women and girls -- who have suffered immeasurably in Haiti's disasters and instability -- through new legislation.
  • Ending Violence Against Women: A Public Health Imperative
    Dec 16, 2011
    Sexual violence causes physical injury, disability, and even death. It can result in sexually transmitted disease, poor reproductive health, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and depression. The public health community, including local and international health providers active in Haiti, needs to be prepared to handle the health and social consequences of violence against women, and to work to prevent this violence.
  • Stability of Haiti's Reconstruction Hinges on Women
    Sep 29, 2011
    Conditions have become worse for many Haitian women and girls after last year's earthquake, including access to reproductive health care. Their needs must be considered in every aspect of reconstruction and at each step.
  • Haiti: Earthquake Recovery Failing Women and Girls
    Aug 30, 2011
    Women and girls in Haiti are facing gaps in access to available healthcare services necessary to stop preventable maternal and infant deaths. Serious gaps in access to healthcare services are harming vulnerable women and girls still displaced after the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
  • Haiti: Duvalier Prosecution a ‘Rendezvous With History’
    Apr 14, 2011
    The prosecution of the former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier represents a landmark opportunity for the Haitian justice system to address some of the worst crimes in Haiti’s past. The 47-page report, “Haiti’s Rendezvous With History: The Case of Jean-Claude Duvalier,” examines the legal and practical questions surrounding the case and concludes that Haiti has an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute the grave violations of human rights under Duvalier’s rule. The report also addresses Haiti’s capacity to carry out the trial, the question of the statute of limitations, and Duvalier’s personal involvement in alleged criminal acts.
  • Halt Deportations to Haiti Pending Full Policy Review
    Mar 11, 2011
    In the face of the gravity of the current situation in Haiti, the draft policy regarding removals to Haiti is insufficient. It fails to provide a justification for the change in policy based on conditions on the ground and lacks provisions that would ensure due process. We strongly recommend that there be no further deportations to Haiti until ICE fully examines and responds to all comments to this draft policy.
  • Haiti: Letter to Minister Cannon
    Mar 3, 2011
    We write to urge Canada to support the government of Haiti in its decision to move forward with the prosecution of the former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier for grave violations of human rights.
  • Haiti: France Should Support the Haitian Government's Prosecution of Jean-Claude Duvalier
    Mar 2, 2011
    A fair trial for Jean‑Claude Duvalier, however, one in which the voices of Duvalier's victims are heard and in which Duvalier's lawyers present a robust defense, could kick-start legal reform efforts in Haiti. It could help restore Haitians' faith in a justice system that has almost always shielded the perpetrators of the worst atrocities.
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